Radio frequency signal boosters for vehicles

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for signal boosters for vehicles are provided. In certain embodiments, a vehicle signal booster system includes an interior unit including a mobile station antenna that receives an RF uplink signal and transmits a boosted RF downlink signal. The vehicle signal booster system further includes a top unit including a base station antenna that receives an RF downlink signal and transmits a boosted RF uplink signal. The vehicle signal booster system further includes booster circuitry that generates the boosted RF downlink signal based on amplifying one or more downlink channels of the RF downlink signal, and that generates the boosted RF uplink signal based on amplifying one or more uplink channels of the RF uplink signal. The booster circuitry is implemented in the top unit or in the top unit and the interior unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A signal booster system comprising:
 a first unit configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) downlink signal from a base station antenna and to provide a boosted RF uplink signal to the base station antenna for wireless transmission, wherein the first unit comprises a first booster circuit; and 
 a second unit configured to connect to the first unit by a cable, wherein the second unit is configured to receive an RF uplink signal from a mobile station antenna and to provide a boosted RF downlink signal to the mobile station antenna for wireless transmission, wherein the second unit comprises a second booster circuit configured to separate the RF uplink signal into a high frequency uplink signal and a low frequency uplink signal, wherein the second unit amplifies the high frequency uplink signal but does not amplify the low frequency uplink signal. 
 
     
     
       2. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the first booster circuit is configured to separate the RF downlink signal into a high frequency downlink signal and a low frequency downlink signal, wherein the first unit amplifies the low frequency downlink signal but does not amplify the high frequency downlink signal. 
     
     
       3. The signal booster system of  claim 2 , wherein the second unit amplifies the high frequency downlink signal but does not amplify the low frequency downlink signal. 
     
     
       4. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the second booster circuit comprises a first diplexer configured to separate the RF uplink signal into the high frequency uplink signal and the low frequency uplink signal, and high frequency amplification circuitry configured to amplify the high frequency uplink signal to generate an amplified high frequency uplink signal. 
     
     
       5. The signal booster system of  claim 4 , wherein the second booster circuit further comprises a second diplexer configured to combine the amplified high frequency uplink signal and the low frequency uplink signal for transmission over the cable to the first unit. 
     
     
       6. The signal booster system of  claim 5 , wherein the high frequency amplification circuitry is further configured to amplify a high frequency downlink signal received from the cable via the second diplexer. 
     
     
       7. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the high frequency uplink signal has a frequency greater than 1 GHz, wherein the low frequency uplink signal has a frequency lower than 1 GHz. 
     
     
       8. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the first unit amplifies the low frequency uplink signal. 
     
     
       9. The signal booster system of  claim 8 , wherein the first unit does not amplify the high frequency uplink signal. 
     
     
       10. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the cable carries both DC power and RF signals. 
     
     
       11. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the first unit is implemented in a housing including a plastic cover and a metal base, wherein the metal base is configured to transfer heat to a metal surface to provide cooling. 
     
     
       12. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the second unit is configured to receive DC power from a power source. 
     
     
       13. The signal booster system of  claim 12 , wherein the second unit comprises a DC/RF combiner configured to combine the RF uplink signal and the DC power for transmission to the first unit via the cable, and the first unit comprises a DC/RF separator configured to separate the RF uplink signal and the DC power received from the cable. 
     
     
       14. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the first unit comprises a temperature sensor, wherein the signal booster system is configured to reduce a signal bandwidth in response to the temperature sensor detecting a temperature over a threshold. 
     
     
       15. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the first unit is an exterior unit and the second unit is an interior unit. 
     
     
       16. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the first booster circuit comprises low frequency amplification circuitry and passive high frequency processing circuitry. 
     
     
       17. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , wherein the second booster circuit comprises high frequency amplification circuitry and passive low frequency processing circuitry. 
     
     
       18. The signal booster system of  claim 1 , further comprising the base station antenna and the mobile station antenna. 
     
     
       19. The signal booster system of  claim 18 , wherein the mobile station antenna is integrated with the second unit, and the base station antenna is integrated with the first unit. 
     
     
       20. The signal booster system of  claim 18 , further comprising the cable.